Group Chat
by LillyLilly
Summary: Harvey finds out he's the only one not part of the Specter Litt Wheeler Williams' group chat.


She's stretched out on the bed when he comes in, all legs and fiery hair, but it's the coltish smile and the notes of a soft chuckle that capture his attention. The sound is accompanied by a slight shake of her shoulders, causing a loose lock to fall from behind her ear and come to rest on her cheek. His own smile draws crinkles at the edge of his eyes as he sits down beside her, a hand instinctively reaching out and putting the strand back in its place, fingers gently tracing her jaw.

"Hey", she hums as she looks up from the phone in her hand.

"What's so funny?" he asks, his thumb now travelling idly down the path of her spine.

"Louis just sent me a video of a 'Fry and Laurie' sketch called Shakespeare master class."

"'Fry and Laurie'?"

"As in Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie", she explains while sitting up. The absence of recognition at her words earns him raised eyebrows.

"Seriously? Hugh Laurie? The actor who played House!"

"That was a TV show, right?"

"Oh, you should definitely go buy the DVD right now" she tells him with a look that's half smugness, half amusement.

"And why is that, Donna?" he asks, his tone making it clear he knows she's about to tease him but he'll indulge her all the same.

"I don't know, Harvey" she feigns nonchalance. "An arrogant, self-absorbed, blowhard protagonist, who thinks he's the smartest one in the room… something tells me it would feel almost like you were watching yourself onscreen, and we both know how much you enjoy looking at your own reflection".

He narrows his eyes in mock disapproval, however the sentiment is lost in the company of an irrepressible grin prompted by the recollection of an old memory.

Shaking his head, he opts to skip over her mocking by changing the subject.

"And since when are you and Louis texting buddies?"

"You know Louis, he's very fond of sharing…" she adds the last part with a face that clearly illustrates the meaning of the expression _too much information_. "So he was very happy when Rachel introduced him to the concept of a group chat, and he has not wasted a day of that knowledge ever since."

"I bet he hasn't", he snickers. "Rachel should have known better."

They share a look that, despite their words, betrays a great fondness for Specter Litt Wheeler Williams' managing partner.

"Wait a second", Harvey says as the information fully registers. "Group chat?"

"I know you probably won't believe me", Donna says without missing a beat, smoothly getting up from the bed and padding towards a chair near the window. "But more often than not the things he shares are actually pretty funny."

It had happened so fast anyone else would have missed it. But he was Harvey and she was Donna. And for a fraction of a second, Donna had frozen.

"Who else is in this group chat?" he asks, breezing past her last comment with just as much ease as she had ignored his.

"Just a few people from the office."

There's a moss green cardigan hanging from the back of the chair. She picks it up and puts it on as she answers, hoping the movement and the absence of eye contact will signal a lack of engagement with the conversation on her part that's enough to discourage his persistence in this line of questioning.

"Donna." The intonation alone is a warning: there's no way he's not getting to the bottom of this.

"It's just me and Louis… and Sheila, and Mike, and Rachel…"

She doesn't continue, but he knows there's more in that sentence before the period.

"And?" he presses.

"And Gretchen", she replies with a sigh. "And Alex, and Samantha, and Katrina."

There's a pause.

"And Robert."

"Well", he interjects sarcastically. "A few people sure sounds a lot like everyone."

"And Jessica" she blurts out before he can carry on.

That actually makes him stop mid breath, his mouth hanging slightly open. He recovers quickly, though, as incredulity is replaced by understanding.

"You almost had me", he says with a smile. "But don't feel bad, most people make the same mistake."

"What?" Donna asks, confused.

"You got cocky and you took it too far", he explains in a condescending voice. "A cocky attitude is great, but it takes skill to successfully pull of a bluff."

"You think I'm lying to you?"

"Come on! Do you honestly expect me to believe Jessica Pearson is part of a goddamn group chat?"

"She has hardly ever written anything", she says with false detachment. Internally, although Donna had initially cursed herself for letting the information slip, leaving her liable to his whining, she thinks now she might as well amuse herself while he's at it. "And I'm sure she has turned off the notifications, but you know Jessica makes sure to always stay in the loop about what's happening with us and with the firm."

"In what universe does looking at Louis' infinite stream of cat pictures constitutes staying in the loop of any reality?" he cries, standing up in exasperation.

She simply shrugs, just waiting for the punch line.

He assesses her carefully, but she's showing none of her tells, and the understanding turns back into incredulity.

"And why would I be the only one not included in this?"

There it is. She smiles.

"Because, Harvey" she speaks patiently, "We both know exactly what you'd have said if I'd asked if you wanted to be part of a group chat with Louis. 'Donna'", she begins, head tilt and smirk, in her best Harvey Specter impersonation. "'I'm the best goddamn closer in New York City. I don't have time to hear Louis' cat nonsense in person and I certainly won't voluntarily choose to have it pop up every two seconds on my phone.'"

"First of all", he begins, taking a step towards her. "I sound nothing like that."

Her only response to this is the raise of a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"And second of all, my point is, it would have been common courtesy to extend an invitation, regardless of the response."

If he thinks a handsome face and a pout mean he won't have to explicitly ask for it, he must have her confused with some other sucker. Closing the space between them and framing his face in her hands, she says in the way that's uniquely hers: "Harvey, do you want to be included in the group chat?"

He has too much pride to give her the satisfaction of answering, so he takes a determinate breath before proceeding to do his best to make her forget all about the question.

There's no innocence in the kiss, but that doesn't mean it lacks in tenderness. The intention is to make her feel, but also to show how he feels. It is an unspoken rule between them: after thirteen years of making sure it didn't mean anything, every touch now means they are in this together.

"Well?" she asks again, albeit a bit out of breath, while their foreheads are still touching, eyes are still closed.

Suddenly he can't remember why he's reluctant to admit to wanting to be a part of this. In truth, ever since the night he ran to her apartment and shut the door with himself firmly inside, he has trouble finding a reason as to why he would deny wanting anything.

"Yes", he mutters in a low voice.

She could gloat, but while his move had failed to make her drop the question, she couldn't say it hadn't had any effect at all. Stepping away and grabbing her phone from where she'd left it on the bed, she types the necessary commands before handing it to him.

"There", she says softly, before placing a last kiss to his cheek and walking out of the room.

Harvey looks down at the screen and sees she's left the chat window open. He scrolls through bits of conversation, a few videos and an even greater than expected amount of cat pictures until his own name catches his eye amidst the text.

**_Mike_**

_Why does Harvey's hair always look like it's afraid of his face?_

"DONNA!"

* * *

Disclaimer: Mike's line belongs to Patrick J. Adams. He says it in one of the blooper reels, and I've always thought it a shame that it didn't make it into the episode.


End file.
